improvement of surgical technologist students’ learning by development of a customized e-portfolio: a mixed-method study

Background: electronic portfolios provide opportunities for students to reflect on their performance and develop their competencies.objectives: the present study was done to improve surgical technologist students’ learning through the development of a customized e-portfolio.methods: this interventional study was conducted using a sequential mixed method in two phases. in the qualitative phase, the framework of the e-portfolio was first developed via literature review. then, it was customized and completed through a qualitative approach of guided content analysis based on elo & kyngas ' method. in the quantitative phase, by using quasi-experimental designs, the effectiveness of the e portfolio was evaluated by measuring students' satisfaction, knowledge, and clinical skills as educational outcomes. a satisfaction questionnaire, multiple choices questionnaire (mcq), and research-made checklist were used. comparison of groups and data analysis was done using fisher's exact and paired t-test. data analysis was done using spss version 22 soj ware. k e maximum alpha level was considered to be 0.05 in order to confirm the difference between the groups (p<0.05).results: in the first phase, an e-portfolio framework was developed, including discipline regulations, study resources, daily activities, educational objectives, assessment tools, feedback, and reflection reports. the paired t-test results show that students’ knowledge (p-value=0.011) and clinical skills significantly improved (p-value=0.023). more than two-thirds of the students (71.42%) and tutors (85.72%) were thoroughly satisfied with the e-portfolio assessment.conclusion: based on the main results, the use of applicable and standard e-portfolios is recommended as a comprehensive and cost-effective assessment method in clinical education.